Is This Love (Or Am I Dreaming)
by TeamSerenate
Summary: After a dare, two Bella's lives are turned upside down and inside out. Now they face the ultimate test-do they live out their lives in a lie or will they finally give into what their hearts want? (Somehow this ended up a Triple Treble-sorry!) Stupid summary I'm sorry, please give it a chance, it's a work in progress but I will do my best to update it often
1. It's Just A Kiss

It all started with a dare. At the time, it may have seemed innocent enough. Okay, maybe innocent isn't the right word. Certainly no one had any idea it was a dare that would forever shift the balance between the Bella's-past and present.

It was nearly the end of Beca's sophomore year at Barden, the Bella's had just won Nationals for the second year. To everyone's surprise, Chloe and Aubrey were there to cheer them on. After winning, there was only one thing left to do: celebrate. A few pizza's and a couple of bottles of alcohol later, the girls had started a game of truth or dare, though, it may have as well been called "dare" since no one had picked a truth yet. "All right Stacie. Pick someone." Her eyes drifted from the speaker, Cynthia Rose, to each of the other's, all anxiously waiting to see who she would pick.

Finally, she said "Chloe, truth or dare." The redhead was seated in a chair, Aubrey next to her left, also in a chair. She cocked her head and took a swallow of her drink. Everyone was on edge now, just dying inside, most knowing, or at least betting that she would say dare.

She broke the silence by saying "dare." Quiet whispering went around the room, all eyes turned to Staice, flipping back and forth between her and Chloe. Now it was Stacie's turn to keep everyone on edge though she didn't do so for too long.

"I dare you…to kiss Beca." Quiet whispers and mumbles broke out amongst the girls again. Beca, in the middle of a swallow of beer, nearly lost it, gasping.

"Woah! You can not be serious!" she finally managed, though as she looked at Stacie, her eyes dancing with laughter, she knew she was serious.

"A dare is a dare" she said, not able to knock the grin off her face. The room grew silent then, Fat Amy breaking it with a nearly inaudible "aca-awkward."

Chloe stood and made her way to the floor where Beca still was, clearly the dare hadn't finished processing inside her head. "Relax" she said softly, offering a gentle smile.

"I've never…."

"Kissed someone?" Chloe teased.

Beca scoffed. "No. I've never…kissed a girl before."

Chloe shrugged. "First time for everything" she offered, again flashing a grin. Beca took a breath and gave a small nod. "Relax" Chloe said again. "It's just a kiss." She nodded again and took one more breath before she leaned in a bit, Chloe meeting her halfway. The room had grown dead silent and once their lips met was there a restlessness that grew, quiet whispers until it broke. "See? Nothing to it" Chloe said, winking before she stood up and sat back in her chair. The rest of the night passed uneventfully.

Here it was, nearly a month later, and Beca could not get the kiss out of her mind. It had been…what was the word…? She really had no word for it. She had no idea what was going on or how she had managed to function on a daily basis. The kiss haunted her day and night, awake or asleep. She paced her room, having no idea what to do. Or what it all meant. It was just a kiss. Yeah right. That's why it was all she could think about, making her nearly flunk her finals, sleep was nearly non-existent.

Slumping in her chair she wondered if music would help as she put her headphones on. Unfortunately the first thing that popped on was the mash up "Just the way you are/Just a dream." Muttering she shut the system down and stood up. Hurriedly she started to pack, never mind how late it was. One way or another, she was going to get to the bottom of this…whatever this was.

Hauling the bag over her shoulder, she headed out, hailed a cab and headed to a bus station. After getting a ticket, she had about an hour wait, finally though she was on a bus and to a destination unknown.


	2. Confused Bedfellows

"Hey Bec..." Jesse looked around, confused. He knew he was in the right dorm, at the right room, it was empty. Or, Beca's side, was. Looking around slowly he finally asked "Kimmy Jin, where did Beca go?" Not much to his surprise, he didn't receive an answer. "Okay. Was she here last night?"

Standing from her chair, she said "she left around eleven."

Eleven? Jesse thought silently before adding "she didn't say where she was going?"

"No."

Sighing, Jesse gave a quiet "thank you" and left, fumbling in his pocket for his phone. He tried Beca's number three times, each time getting her voice mail. Frustrated, he gave up and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

Something had been off between the two of them. They had gone from spending as much time as they could together to barley any. If they could manage to pull of two days a week, Jesse deemed it lucky. And on those days, more often than not, she would find an excuse to get out of it. Now, out of the blue, she decides to just up and leave. He could come up with only one theory, one that nagged at him and made him sick. He hoped he was wrong.

Nothing was going right for Chloe. First, she had to take a freezing cold shower as the water heater had broken-again. After hastily changing, drying her hair, she grabbed her keys and purse and headed to her car. Upon turning the key, the engine turned over once, sputtered, died. She missed the bus and had to walk to work, coming in nearly half an hour late; the fact she still had a job was a miracle.

After work, she made it to the bus stop, but failed to get off at her stop as she was barley awake. Finally, she hopped off at the closest stop, though it took her twice as long to get home. Not wanting to chance it with another cold shower, she made dinner of some leftovers, brushed her teeth and crawled into bed.

Less than ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. She almost didn't answer. Almost didn't get out of bed. But she did. She pushed the covers back, headed to the door, turned the deadbolt, then the main lock at the door. This had better be good she thought as she turned the knob, revealing a disheveled and sleepless Beca.

"Beca?"

For a minute, she wondered if she was asleep and this was a dream. That thought was out of her mind when she felt her lips on her own. During that brief moment, nothing and no one else in the world existed. It was just her and Beca.

When it met, she met her eyes. "Tell me something-did you feel anything?" They both just stared at each other, Chloe turning the words in her head.

Finally, she took a breath and opened her mouth, knowing that what she was saying was the biggest lie she had ever told. "No."


	3. Lie To Me

"No."

The word echoed in Beca's head, like a punch to the gut. Still, despite the sure tone that Chloe had used when she had responded, she didn't believe. Nonetheless, she nodded. "Oh" she replied, taking a step back. For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw Chloe's eyes flash with-concern? remorse? pity? "Sorry." She took another step back.

"Beca..."

"Don't. Just don't." She gave her head a shake. What had she really been expecting? That Chloe had been awake for hours on end, the kiss playing like a broken reel on a filmstrip? "Stupid."

Turning, she heard Chloe say "you can stay here."

She almost laughed, a half laugh half sob caught in her throat. "Why?" she questioned, watching the other girl wince at her word, though she didn't move away, instead, she stepped a bit closer.

"To sleep, no offense you look..."

"Terrible?"

"Tired."

Beca's jaw locked as she looked at Chloe. "Right back at ya" the cold front still hard and clear in her voice.

Somehow, Chloe stayed strong. "Been a long day."

"Yeah? Just a day? Because for me, its been the longest month of my life." Another shake of her head, Beca turned on her heel and left Chloe behind.

"Mine too" she whispered, though she spoke to no one, just darkness. Soundlessly, she walked back inside, locked the door and slid back under the covers, feeling empty and alone.

Beca had seen a motel 6 when she had headed to Chloe's, it was maybe half a mile from the bus station. After getting a key, she set her bag down and collapsed on the bed. To say she was tired would have been a gross understatement. Flipping her phone open, she saw numerous missed calls and texts from Jesse. Biting her lip, she went through the missed calls, checking the messages, each one sounding a bit more worried than the one before. The texts were pretty much the same, the last three all saying "call me ASAP." She didn't trust herself right then as far as speaking went so she sent a text saying she was fine, just needed to get away from school. Setting the phone on the bedside table, she sighed and laid back on the bed.

The faint "Don't You (Forget About Me)" played from her phone, making her groan as she turned.

Fuck.

Reaching for it, she took a breath and answered. "Beca, where the hell have you been?! Do you know how worried I was?! I almost called your dad!"

Taking another breath she said "I'm sorry I scared you. Really I..." She lost track of her thought for a minute.

"Beca? What is going on?"

"I don't..."

"Stop. You have been acting distant with me for a while now. We barley spend any time together and when we do its like you're a million miles from me. Like you wished I was someone else." Another lull of silence. "Is that what's going on Beca? Is there someone else?"

"Believe me, I never wanted to hurt you..."

"I knew it!" She heard something being thrown in the background, making her wince.

"Jesse please. I didn't plan on having this happen."

A snort. "No. Of course not."

"Stop it! I really care about you, but I can't deny that I have feelings for someone else."

"And what? Everything between us was a bullshit lie?!" Again, more sounds of chaos in the background.

"This is not about you! This is all me! My life and my problem!"

"If it concerns you, then it concerns me!"

She was quiet for a minute, wanting them to both take a minute to catch their breaths and try to calm down. "I'm sorry..."

"Beca..."

"I need to figured this out and I can't do it if you are in my life. I don't know, Jesse. For now, I can't be with you."

She heard him laugh. "Oh but this other person, this person that is better than me."

Brushing a hand through her hair, sighing softly. "I didn't say one was better than the other. Just...different." She grew quiet, waiting to hear him again.

"So, are we done? For good?"

She knew what the answer was but she said "I'm not sure."

"I won't wait forever."

"I'm not expecting you to."

Silence. Silence telling her their lines were cut off. Shutting the phone off, Beca let her head hit the pillow, instantly falling into a deep dreamless sleep.


End file.
